Prolonged sitting increases risk of death: studies

Even if you exercise, sitting down for long periods of time will increase your risk of death from any cause by between 15 and 20 per cent, according to a new Canadian study. Toronto researchers looked at 41 international studies and found sedentary behaviour is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death, regardless of regular exercise.

‘Terribly concerned’

Canada is one of the more wired countries in the world and Canadians spend very much time on the internet, watching television and working at office desks. That leaves cardiologist Dr. David Alter “terribly concerned…This (study) is a public health call to action.” Alter is the senior author of this research paper and senior scientist with Toronto Rehabilitation Institute of the University Health Network.

ListenPublic health messages to Canadians have in the past focussed on encouraging them to get 30 to 60 minutes of exercise daily. That is good advice, but Alter says reducing sedentary behaviour is a separate issue that needs to be tackled with some urgency.

Sitting for long is ‘metabolically toxic’

It’s not clear why sitting is so bad for you. “One theory is that as we sit more it’s what we call in science ‘metabolically toxic’ which means that we are burning fewer calories. And when we are burning fewer calories, more of it goes to waste, turns to fat and that fat becomes toxic to our organs and sets us up for all of these health hazards,” says Alter. More research is needed to confirm this and exactly what combination of sitting, standing and other activity is optimum for good health.

Set an alarm, move every half hour, advises doctor

In the meantime, Adler suggests people set alarms for themselves every half hour and that they get up and stand or move for two or three minutes at each interval. He says people need to make individual plans that could include getting up for each commercial break while watching television, or standing for the last 15 minutes of watching sporting events.

Some innovative companies have installed work stations so that employees can work standing up.

Apps can help

The good news, says Adler, is that Canadians have access to many electronic devices to help them be less sedentary and track their movement. He mentions apps that help people count the steps they take each day or how many calories they burn.

Standing burns twice the calories that sitting does, and walking burns one third more than standing. And small changes add up. It’s not easy to change habits says Adler, but it is crucial.